Reading the last post by Orange Fling reminded me of something that happened to me while I was in the US. It was not anything funny, but maybe when I look back at it, it does seem a little funny now. This happened in my very first year in a new country and I admit that it slightly scared the shit out of me. As it is, I hate flying and I try to avoid it as much as I can. Even in the USA I took the Amtrak when ever I could, even if it took much longer. An experience like this was probably more then enough to make me hate it much more.
For one of my earlier semester breaks, I decided to visit one of my friends and spend a few days with him since I had nothing much to do where I was. Plus this was my chance to see Washington DC. The only problem was that I was not earning anything and my friend decided to get me the ticket and it was booked by him with his credit card. All I needed to do was get to the check in counter, show my ID and get my boarding pass. I reach way before time, like I always do and I walk straight to the counter and hand in my ID. A pleasant smile greets me followed by the usual hello, how you doing? and all that. In a brief moment I notice the expression on the lady's face change. She stares at the computer screen for longer than usual, and she had the, oh-my-God-what-do-I-do-next kind of look on her face. She asks me to hold on and then makes a few phone calls and then comes back to stare at the screen.
By now it has been close to ten minutes and so I asked, "Err, is there some problem?" to which she nervously replies, "Oh, its nothing. Just that your name has been locked. Don't worry, it's just a common problem we face when there are two people on the same flight with the same name, you know, like John Smith, which is quite common." The minute she said that, I knew for sure that that wasn't the issue. After all what are the chances of finding another person with my name, that too in Indianapolis and on a small twenty seater plane? Anyway, I decide to wait patiently. Not that there was much I could have done. She frantically continues to make a few more calls and by now her nervousness was quite evident in her body language.
In a few minutes, a few cops came over and flashed out their badges and behind them were few more smartly dressed people who walked much faster, and flashed out their badges faster and said something much faster that I did not understand. Before I knew it I was asked to follow them inside for interrogation. It was when they started talking to me that I figured what the issue really was. Now after 9/11, everyone has been quite paranoid about flying. I have been referred to as "middle eastern" by someone in my class and the final nail might have been the fact that my friend who booked my ticket for me had the name Mohammad Attaur, which is kind of the same name as the person who masterminded 9/11. I don't think me having a DOB of 9/11 on my passport would have helped one bit either.
Once I understood what the issue was, I relaxed because I know there was nothing for me to be worried about. They asked me everything they could about that person. Where he was from, how i knew him, why he got me the ticket, blah blah blah. All along, I could not help but laugh to myself thinking about how they might have assumed that I had plans to hijack and crash my plane, maybe into the white house. I kept thinking to myself, "hhhmm, now if I really wanted to crash and cause some damage, I might have opted for a slightly bigger aircraft, rather than a 20 seater. What can it do? Maybe damage the white house lawn?" Of course, common sense prevailed and I kept that funny thought to myself. Meanwhile, they ran a complete background check on my friend, and me and once they got the all clear, they let me go, after almost an hour and an apology.
As I boarded my aircraft, I couldn't help but watch the other passengers to see if anyone was giving me any funny looks. I watched the cabin crew and wondered to myself if they had been given information about a potential terrorist. Wouldn't it be cool to be the first high profile Mallu hijacker and terrorist, to take over a plane and ram it into the white house? One thing I knew for sure, and that was, that from my next trip, no Mohammad Attaur was going to book the ticket for me.
For one of my earlier semester breaks, I decided to visit one of my friends and spend a few days with him since I had nothing much to do where I was. Plus this was my chance to see Washington DC. The only problem was that I was not earning anything and my friend decided to get me the ticket and it was booked by him with his credit card. All I needed to do was get to the check in counter, show my ID and get my boarding pass. I reach way before time, like I always do and I walk straight to the counter and hand in my ID. A pleasant smile greets me followed by the usual hello, how you doing? and all that. In a brief moment I notice the expression on the lady's face change. She stares at the computer screen for longer than usual, and she had the, oh-my-God-what-do-I-do-next kind of look on her face. She asks me to hold on and then makes a few phone calls and then comes back to stare at the screen.
By now it has been close to ten minutes and so I asked, "Err, is there some problem?" to which she nervously replies, "Oh, its nothing. Just that your name has been locked. Don't worry, it's just a common problem we face when there are two people on the same flight with the same name, you know, like John Smith, which is quite common." The minute she said that, I knew for sure that that wasn't the issue. After all what are the chances of finding another person with my name, that too in Indianapolis and on a small twenty seater plane? Anyway, I decide to wait patiently. Not that there was much I could have done. She frantically continues to make a few more calls and by now her nervousness was quite evident in her body language.
In a few minutes, a few cops came over and flashed out their badges and behind them were few more smartly dressed people who walked much faster, and flashed out their badges faster and said something much faster that I did not understand. Before I knew it I was asked to follow them inside for interrogation. It was when they started talking to me that I figured what the issue really was. Now after 9/11, everyone has been quite paranoid about flying. I have been referred to as "middle eastern" by someone in my class and the final nail might have been the fact that my friend who booked my ticket for me had the name Mohammad Attaur, which is kind of the same name as the person who masterminded 9/11. I don't think me having a DOB of 9/11 on my passport would have helped one bit either.
Once I understood what the issue was, I relaxed because I know there was nothing for me to be worried about. They asked me everything they could about that person. Where he was from, how i knew him, why he got me the ticket, blah blah blah. All along, I could not help but laugh to myself thinking about how they might have assumed that I had plans to hijack and crash my plane, maybe into the white house. I kept thinking to myself, "hhhmm, now if I really wanted to crash and cause some damage, I might have opted for a slightly bigger aircraft, rather than a 20 seater. What can it do? Maybe damage the white house lawn?" Of course, common sense prevailed and I kept that funny thought to myself. Meanwhile, they ran a complete background check on my friend, and me and once they got the all clear, they let me go, after almost an hour and an apology.
As I boarded my aircraft, I couldn't help but watch the other passengers to see if anyone was giving me any funny looks. I watched the cabin crew and wondered to myself if they had been given information about a potential terrorist. Wouldn't it be cool to be the first high profile Mallu hijacker and terrorist, to take over a plane and ram it into the white house? One thing I knew for sure, and that was, that from my next trip, no Mohammad Attaur was going to book the ticket for me.
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